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The rain never stopped, it only softened. At the first hint of calmer weather, Flora hurried home. Her family needed their dinner and her baby needed her. She preferred not to leave Enoch at home, even with his doting siblings watching over him. Only the storm stopped her from toting her infant to the computer shop.
Dinner at the Everett house was strange without Ethan present. Power restored, Lydia brewed more coffee and whipped up a batch of apple spice pancakes with homemade whipped cream. Ivy broke off small pieces of flapjacks for Scout who gnawed them to mush with her three front teeth.
“Blood, huh? I wouldn’t have guessed you had an interest in blood.” Lydia fished for more information from the career counseling session. Ivy responded in cheery excited tones. Her youth and hopeful enthusiasm colored every word.
“It’s just one thing. We also discussed massage therapy and school counselor. It just happened that the Blood Bank is in town. I won’t get to do anything amazing. But Professor Barnaby doesn’t see why I couldn’t watch and hang out a bit on the bus. If nobody minds.” She handed Scout another nibble of pancake.
“How is Bill going to swing that on this short of notice?”
Ivy’s half-smile stretched across her face. “Are you being nosy or are you really interested?”
“Interested. Interested. I promise.” With her index finger, Lydia made an x shape across her shirt.
“Your heart is on the other side of your body.”
Lydia laughed. “No wonder Bill thinks you’ll make a great phlebotomist”
The teen rolled her eyes. “He said he might have a connection with the Blood Bank.”
“With someone on the inside?”
“I'm not saying anymore. You’re getting to be way too distrustful about everything.”
“I guess that’s what happens after surviving two murder attempts.”
“I don’t think that has anything to do with it. I think, deep down, you’ve always been that way.”
Lydia chewed the last of her dinner, trying to think of a comeback. But the teen was right. She’d always been drawn to detective stories and made for TV mysteries. When they happened in real life, Lydia tried to run away but was sucked into their center. Resigned and willing to be whatever the Lord was calling her to be, Lydia stopped fighting her tendencies. She embraced them. Perhaps a mite too eagerly.
✽✽✽
The storm drifted south of Honey Pot late in the night. Trees were stripped of leaves and lawns were decorated with random bits of natural debris. Storms were a normal part of the season. Lydia recalled thunderstorms surrounding her birthday week every year since her arrival in the small town. This storm was slightly early but not completely unexpected.
Lydia sat in bed, listening to a podcast, and filling in post-it notes. Each task for the day received a different post-it. Various colors meant various priorities. Family notes were purple and included her weekly video chat with her missionary daughter Joan. Orange ones were labeled with house chores and domestic duties. There were many of these. One mentioned, in bold black ink, stocking up on water and canned goods.
Winter was on the way, though autumn had only just started. It was always better to be safe than sorry. Honey Pot had not seen a blizzard in years but any place where snow was a regular guest needed to prepare for the inevitable 100 years storm. Lydia wondered when Honey Pot was due theirs.
Downstairs, Ivy fed Scout her breakfast. The teen was already showered and primped. She didn’t want a revisit of yesterday’s dressing in darkness dance. Thankfully, Professor Barnaby was just as Lydia had described him. He was friendly, understanding, and interested in Ivy and in her future. No fleeting glances of judgment clouded his smile. No condescension entered his tone when he explained Ivy’s options to her.
Ivy wanted to go to university. She wanted to go badly. However, there was Scout. Scout was her priority. If she went to college at all, she’d opt for online classes to spend more time with her baby girl. She aimed to let the little one know how very wanted and loved she was by Ivy. And the young mother didn’t see how sending her to daycare for 12 hours a day would accomplish her goal.
But, Lydia succeeded in talking Ivy into pursuing career development. Something specialized with succinct and seasonal training. Something she could learn quickly and build up experience fast. Ivy agreed. Her new focus included; finding a career college, spending a year or two training, start her career while raising Scout, and then perhaps hit up online college once Scout was in elementary school. Ivy didn’t like the thought of being halfway into her twenties before starting community college. But it couldn’t be helped. Besides, she much preferred that option over one where Scout grew up lonely.
Lydia and Ethan were very patient with Ivy. They coached and supported her. They didn’t seem to judge her or to be anxious for her to get out of their space. But that didn’t mean they wanted to help a teen mom raise her child, for the next 18 years. Ivy would train, be the best she could be, and move out. The Everetts would have their freedom back and Ivy would still be able to take care of Scout.
“My precious pea,” Ivy crooned to her daughter. Scout clapped as she happily chomped a teeny piece of banana into a pulp. “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
“Mamamamammammamamama,” Scout blabbered. Ivy jumped to her feet and screamed for Lydia. Scout startled, tossing the rest of her breakfast to the floor and howling in fear.
“I’m sorry, sweet Scout.” Ivy unbuckled Scout and kissed her suddenly trembling face.
At Ivy’s call, Lydia chucked her post-its and leaped from her bed. She charged down the stairs. “What is it? What happened? Is she okay? I’ll get my purse!”
“I think she said her first word.” Both women stared at the baby, waiting for a repeat performance. Scout’s beautiful brown eyes grew larger and welled. She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth. Her sticky fist held fast to Ivy’s styled blonde hair, leaving mashed banana and cereal behind.
✽✽✽
Ines Justice stood in the library parking lot. Her left hand held her cell phone and her right grasped her umbrella. It wasn’t raining. Ines carried it just in case. She didn’t approve of the clumping clouds coming in from the north. She kept tabs on their movement as she watched the workers set up a canvas tent and plastic picnic table. The three lab technicians labored in a slow, steady rhythm. They each knew their job well and didn’t bother hustling to put things in order.
The employee she searched for hadn’t stepped out of the van, yet. Ines caught sight of him through the large windshield as he unlocked the door. A second was all she needed to know he was the right man, the one she was looking for. Her thumb hovered over her fiancé’s photo on her phone. One press and her call would connect them. Ines couldn’t decide whether to alert Bill or let him arrive as planned. She didn’t want him stressed and harried for their appointment. She also didn’t want to waste any time getting this first meeting underway.
Ines was still staring into the mobile when Ivy and Lydia arrived. “Ines,” Lydia greeted the librarian with a warm hug. Ines Justice and Lydia were longtime friends. Not close but reliable.
“Lydia. I didn’t see you arrive.” Ines’ eyes widened. Her usual warm smile wasn’t forthcoming but her tone was nothing but pleasant. “And hello to you Miss Scout.” The librarian tickled Scout’s chin tenderly.
“Scout and I are heading to storytime, while Ivy hangs out with Bill and the crew.”
“Oh? Yes, I remember. I’ll be inside in twenty minutes.” Ines tucked her phone back into her coat pocket. It was later than she realized. An hour whizzed past without her noticing. Movement drew her attention. Again, for only half a second, she spotted the man she was searching for.
Lydia picked up on Ines’ distraction and excused herself to the library. “When you see Bill, please tell him Ivy and I are just inside, at the large round table.”
“Of course.” Ines didn’t turn her sea-green eyes back to Lydia.
“What’s up with her?” Ivy whispered. She followed Lydia inside, happy to be out of the cold. Waiting fed her nervous tension but the inside of the library was nicer on her professional look than the outside.
“Not a clue.”
✽✽✽
A gaggle of young mothers and their lap-sitting babies gathered in the kid’s corner. Their hushed chatter filled the quiet library. Lydia listened as they spoke of diapers, cloth versus disposable. It wasn’t hard to imagine herself so young. Twenty plus years had whizzed by without a pause.
She’d been warned, as all mothers are. Enjoy this now because it goes by so quickly. Lydia had tried. She held every moment close to her heart. Even the gut-wrenching years of defiance and teen drama. She purposed never to wish away a single stage. Still, it slipped from her grasp too fast to soak in. Now her precious baby Joanie was warrior Joan out in South Africa. Her toddler wasn’t building mud castles and playdough villages. She was constructing hospitals and churches. She wasn’t playing with dolls. She was feeding orphaned babies by syringe.
Lydia ached for Joan. Twelve months without a single hug was weighing on her heart. The sudden attacks of missing her daughter weren’t growing farther apart and less painful. They were still frequent and ferocious.
Lydia turned her eyes toward Ivy. The seventeen-year-old played with her own baby. Lydia sent silent and sincere praise to God for granting her the privilege of being with Ivy. Secretly, Lydia didn’t know if she could manage her homesickness for Joan without the lovely distraction of this new friend and daughter. Thankful wasn’t a strong enough word to describe her gratitude for Ivy’s presence in her life. She cherished it, even more than coffee.
Ines entered the library only to instruct Gabby, the other librarian, to lead storytime. She stopped by the round table to discuss things with Lydia. Her eyes glistened with tears but abounded with joy. “Please forgive us, but Bill’s going to be a bit later than he expected. Would it be too much to ask you to come back in an hour or so?”
Ivy and Lydia exchanged intrigued glances. “No, that’s fine. We’ll just head to the diner for some coffee and come back when we’re done.”
“That would be wonderful. Thank you. I’ll have Bill text you if anything changes. See you in an hour, then?”
“Yes,” Ivy said. “We’ll be here.” Lydia and Ivy stood. Ines’ sensible pumps click-clacked as she hurried out of the library.
“That was weird.” Lydia’s eyebrows spiked.
“Oh, no. What are you thinking?”
Lydia shook her head to clear her mind. “Nothing bad. I’m thinking we should get some coffee.” The three ladies left the library, forgetting about storytime. Lydia couldn’t help swiveling her head toward the blood bank van. Two bald men hugged each other as Ines watched.
“You’re always thinking that.” Ivy’s jab sent her into nervous giggles. Lydia didn’t reply in kind. She took another peek at the strange scene unfolding outside the Pottersville Library.